May/June 2024 Issue of the Collectors Club Philatelist

THE COLLECTORS CLUB

58 W 40th ST, FL2, NEW YORK NY 10018 (212) 683-0559

The Collectors Club is open Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Please call ahead if intending to visit.

Officers

President

Lawrence Haber

Vice President Robert Gray

Secretary

Treasurer

Chief Technology Officer

Class of 2024

Ozan Gurel

Mark E. Banchik

Alan R. Barasch

Stephen Reinhard

Robert G. Rose

Matthew Healey

Roger S. Brody, RDP

Joan Harmer

Governors

Class of 2025

Robert Gray

Lawrence Haber

Matthew Healey

Daniel J. Ryterband

Wade E. Saadi, RDP

Class of 2026

Roger S. Brody, RDP

Vincent Cosenza

Joan Harmer

Kathryn Johnson Behruz Nassre

The Collectors Club Philatelist is an international specialty journal serving the needs of hundreds of collectors worldwide. It serves as the journal of record for the Collectors Club as well as publishing stimulating and helpful articles for collectors of many levels and specialties. The Collectors Club Philatelist strives to publish accurate philatelic information and serves as a forum for communication among members of the Collectors Club.

President’s Message

Lawrence Haber

Welcome to Our New Home

Sometimes, these notes seem to write themselves. And, sometimes, they don’t. This is one of those occasions when it is more difficult to figure out what words to put to paper. This is largely because I am writing this in early April for the May/ June issue. What lies ahead is the official re-opening of the Club. We are scheduled to have an event on May 1 to thank all the many, many people who worked to get us to this stage. These range from real estate agents to project managers, to architects, to general contractors and even the people who provided the shelving in the library. We wanted to hold an event such as this for two reasons: first, because it is the right thing to do and, second, to take the Club for a “shakedown cruise” before the May 11 gala. On May 11, we’ll honor four Lichtenstein winners and officially publish Nick Kirke’s book on New York City Foreign Mail. And then, on May 15, we will host an open house for our members. So, a lot lies ahead, and you have the benefit of hindsight. But, as I write this, the future is somewhat unclear.

Let’s talk briefly about the Club and what it can offer. We have been out of the physical club for four years due to the pandemic, the sale of the building, the fit-out and the move into the new home we now have. I think it is fair to say that, if I had asked before the pandemic whether we could weather this fouryear absence, very few would have thought we could. But, clearly, that hasn’t been the case. We transitioned very quickly to a virtual mode of holding our programs, and that has been an extraordinary experience. In many cases, it has actually brought us together to a greater extent than what we would ever have imagined. Now, it is far more likely that I will be confronted with questions about why we need physical premises.

I recently purchased what the auction catalog described as a “GB 1841 1d SG12” in orange-brown. The position is AE. Not being sure of the plate, I went online to get confirmation. It’s from plate 5. Please see the image that accompanies this column.

The discussion then turned to the issue of the shade. Was it truly an orange-brown? Plate 5 is not known for orange-brown examples. I provided a scan. The shade is slightly different from the scan in the catalog. This is a catalog I can only see as a pdf on my monitor. My monitor is quite good, but is it an orangebrown or a brown-orangey color, as I stated? The conclusion was that “…[it] does show the peril of trying to determine a color via scans/monitors – a peril of which this group is well aware.” My online friend and I are unlikely to be able to square this particular circle, as our online engagement is limiting. Hence, we are reminded that being in the same place at the same time still remains useful.

We also recognize that the Club has to be an inviting place in which to congregate. We are very fortunate. We are now in an ideal location, sandwiched between 5th and 6th Avenues, diagonally across from the New York Public Library. While that is true, we must also take steps to make it a home for you. We hadn’t always done that. So, we are about to buy a coffee maker (two, actually, one making American coffee and the other a Nespresso machine, plus an electric kettle for our British friends) and we’ll have copies of the major newspapers as well as Linn’s and the American Philatelist always on hand in the lounge area. We want to make the Club a place to visit, meet and engage with other members serendipitously. We will also be holding more meetings and different meetings than the traditional set-piece presentation from a lectern.

And then there is the library. Our board of governors recently approved a revised strategy for the Club. Regarding the library, we said that the “purpose of the library is to be used. It is not intended as an “archive.”Again, as I write this, we have only partially moved the library back into the Club. But I can already see a tremendous change – for the better. The main reading room of the old library at 22 East 35th Street was beautiful. All the books were in beautiful wooden bookcases that were fronted by glass doors. Those glass doors were locked. That is an impediment. Beautiful, yes, but a barrier. We are getting rid of barriers.

Our shelving is now open. The journals are no longer in the musty cellar. The auction catalogs are no longer buried on the 3rd floor. All these are in the same space, on open shelves – open and available. As we moved the books back in, I walked around, and we no longer had doors – glass or not – in front of the books. It was easy to walk down an aisle and glance at the volumes on the shelves. I could casually walk around and come across things I didn’t realize we had. It was a wonderful sense of discovery.

I do hope everything will go well in May, but more importantly, I hope you will find a reason to visit New York or take the train to Midtown and spend some time with us.

Letters to the Editor:

W.A. Cooper and Postmaster John Davis

Thank you for a fine magazine; the standard of the CCP is really very high. In the January-February 2024 issue there were two interesting articles by Mel Kravitz with details I had not previously known about the U.S. Despatch Agent. In the second article; “Analysis of W.A. Cooper Cover” (page 34), there are some mistakes, mostly in the description of the illustrated cover. These are mistakes I feel need to be corrected.

It is a well-known fact W.A. Cooper was a philatelist and, as such, was involved in the preparation of philatelic items. The Kravitz cover is one such example.

That cover (Figure 1) was originally prepared by W.A. Cooper himself; he wrote the full address, franked it with Samoan stamps previously bought from the Apia post office. He also made the red registration cross and wrote “Registered” in red in the upper-left corner. Several such items, including the cover shown in Figure 2, were made at the same time and they were all sent to Apia to be processed by Postmaster John Davis. The reason we know this is because the post office in Apia was completely destroyed by fire on April 1, 1895, when all stamps, except some 1 shilling stamps (later bisected and used), were destroyed. New supplies of stamps did not arrive until May 22. A scene after the fire is shown in Figure 3.

Figure 1. The registered cover illustrated by Mel Kravitz in his Jan-Feb. CCP article.

Figure 2. A non-registered cover (front and back) mailed at the same time as the cover shown in Figure 1, which was illustrated in the January-February Mel Kravitz feature in the CCP.

Figure 3. A photo of Apia after the devastating fire on April 1, 1895.

As W.A. Cooper had not received any information about the fire he, as a consequence, added normal pre-fire stamps to the covers.

On arrival in Apia, all covers were handled by Postmaster Davis, and treated as if they had originated from Apia itself. The stamps were canceled with the Apia datestamp of “18 APR 95” and the registered cover was also struck with the “REGISTERED.” marking. Both cancellations are struck in blue. The reason for the blue color is because the normal black inkpad was destroyed in the fire and a provisional one in blue was used until a new black inkpad arrived, along with the new stamps, on May 22.

Postmaster Davis did not keep any U.S. 8¢ stamps at the Apia post office (as seen in Figure 1); they were normally applied and canceled by W.A. Cooper upon arrival in San Francisco. He did this in his position as the U.S. Despatch Agent. Postmaster Davis had to pay for the U.S. registration fee and that is the reason for the notation on the reverse of the cover; this was done so W.A. Cooper could put the cost for the U.S. stamps on the account of Postmaster Davis. The red dated San Francisco “Registered” marking was applied upon arrival in that city. A similar example to the Figure 1 cover (for postage accounting) is shown in Figure 4. It, too, bears the postmaster notation on its reverse. If you compare this cover to the Figure 1 example, it is quite clear that the non-registered cover has no postmaster notation, as there were no fees to be paid by Postmaster Davis.

—Jan Berg FRPSL via email, Stockhom, Sweden

Figure 4. Another registered cover (front and back), mailed on April 24, after Postmaster Davis started using bisected 1 shilling stamps to pay full postage, until new supplies arrived. The treatment on arrival to San Francisco was the same as for the other registered covers.

Welcome home to our new home.

This spring, the Collectors Club moved into its long-awaited new premises in the heart of Manhattan.

These stylishly modern, fully accessible quarters boast high-tech meeting spaces, our full library and all resources on one level —and stunning views of Bryant Park. We look forward to welcoming all our friends, old and new, into our new home.

India to Russia: Service Suspended

The article with the header on the cover of the Jan/Feb issue of the Collectors Club Philatelist immediately got my attention, as I enjoy collecting the World War I-era covers – especially those related to India.

Shown nearby is the front and verso of a cover from India to Russia with the “Service Suspended” handstamp, British Censor tape and a Bombay DLO (Dead Letter Office) mark dated Dec. 17, 1918. This adds to author James Mazepa’s collection of this handstamp. Typical transit time was about four weeks from India to the United Kingdom. The DLO cancellation provides the only date visible on the cover. Backing from the DLO date would place the suspension of mail service mid-November which coincided with the Russian civil war and Red Terror campaigns. I have not been able to find a reference providing the exact dates of suspension and resumption of mail service from the United Kingdom to Russia. The postal delivery to Russia from the United States was suspended Feb. 20, 1918. The suspended service could have been intermittent, i.e. suspended and resumed and then suspended and resumed. I can’t say if the U.S. dates for Russian mail suspension would help in determining the British or Indian dates.

Also shown nearby is a cover from Petrograd to Lucknow, India. It was marked in manuscript with “Via Bombay,” however it did not travel that way,

as it was censored at Calcutta and marked with a Calcutta censor “despatch” handstamp dated Nov. 19, 1917. It was also censored by the Petrograd Military District (P.V.O). This cover shows that mail was functioning between Russia and India during the early days of the takeover by the Bolsheviks. To get to Calcutta, as illustrated, the cover may have traveled east from Petrograd to China and then by sea to Calcutta. An overland route would have likely not been possible. There are no supporting transit hand stamps, so this route is speculative.

— Robert Gray via email

Editor’s Notepad

Wayne L. Youngblood

Strange Things Happen ...

Serendipity and irony. These are the two words that most closely describe a recent experience.

There is an auction firm in Denmark that I periodically deal with to find unusual items. I recently purchased a large cover lot, as I could tell there were some unusual items contained. In briefly thumbing through the lot, I chanced upon the postcard shown in Figure 1. It was mailed from Brande, Denmark, Dec. 20, 1964, as a Christmas greeting to someone in Hillerød. The franking and rate are of no great consequence.

Upon turning the card over, I first noticed it is a real photo postcard, meaning it's printed on photographic paper. I also noticed the image appeared to be much older than the mailing. The street scene, depicted in Figure 2, reminded me more of American architectural features than European, and the 1930s-40s vehicles were definitely American. Then I saw it: the faint white lettering at the bottom of the card, reading “Business Block Prairie du Sac, Wis.,” which is the tiny village where I currently live! The current view of this part of town is shown in the Google image pictured in Figure 3. The tall building near the far right is the only structure that remains.

How this card, produced more than 80 years ago found its way to Denmark, only to be mailed 20

New Collectors Club Board Member

You might have noticed a change in the list of our board members. With this issue, we are delighted to welcome Alan R. Barasch to the Collectors Club board. Alan was originally from Alabama and is a longtime resident of St Louis, Mo. Those who know Alan have surely observed his energy and commitment to the hobby. We look forward to his future contributions to our Club.

We also salute Larry Hunt, who decided to step down from our board after more than 20 years of service. His commitment to serving the Club was extraordinary, not least in terms of serving as House chair for many (stressful) years.

Figure 1. The postage side of a postcard recently discovered in a large lot bought from an auction firm in Denmark.

years later, saved and repatriated to Wisconsin in 2024, I'll never know. But it certainly shows what can happen when happenstance meets chance circumstance. It’s truly a small world!

Figure 2. The picture side of the Figure 1 postcard shows a street scene that is much more American than Danish!

Figure 3. A Google map image of the street scene as it appears today in the author‘s current hometown.

Collectors Club Programs 2024

May 22 Morocco Postal History (1852-1925): an overview on the four foreign post services; French, British, Spanish and German, Maurice Hadida

June 5 Philatelic Luminary, Joseph Hackmey

June 19 Danish Royal Family Sex Scandal (1768-1772), Henrik and Ana Mouritsen

June 26(?) Hawaii, Richard Malmgren, Fred Gregory

July 10 1918 Czech Scout Post, Frederick Lawrence

Sept. 4 Mexico, Omar Rodriguez

Sept. 18 The Irish Brigadge, Robert Benninghoff, Brian Callan

Sept. 25 Boston 2026 Update, Yamil Kouri

Oct. 9 Canada Military Mail, David Hobden

Oct. 30 Minnesota First Days and the Evolution of First-Day Covers, Todd Ronnei

Oct. 27 The Future of Stamp Shows Panel - APS, Westpex & Sarasota, Scott English, Behruz Nassre (moderator & speaker), Liz Hisey

Dec. 4 Carriers and Locals Society, Cliff Alexander

Dec. 18 Western Express Postal History, Ken Stach

Essential Elements

The Coburg King

Richard Coffey

Of course, there are weeds in our philatelic gardens, but just as prevalent, I think, are the stamps and covers that have lived with us year after year without special attention, without serious recognition until, finally, it seems these homeless scraps of philately have become permanent residents in our stock books.

And for the life of me, I don’t have the slightest inclination to part with them.

Nary a year passes without my pausing many times to view a yellowed stock sheet and pay my respects to one of my permanent boarders: King Leopold I of Belgium. This 1851 Epaulette, 10-centime brown (probably a Scott No. 6, with a watermark of two Ls and my inability to find a watermark frame) assures me that I have the $8 stamp. I’m sure. It’s always the $8 ones that stay forever.

The stamp is a handsome thing to behold despite the devastatingly pervasive cancellation which is endemic to all of Belgium’s imperforate stamps; the Ministry’s regulations provided that each stamp had to receive a full strike of the circular canceler, which, it seems, put King Leopold I in a prison of ink.

Of course, the stamp was greatly influenced by Britain’s Penny Black of 1840; the Epaulette’s minimalist vignette, the omission of the issuing country’s name, the careful engraving. It’s been tossed around a bit, but I believe it is now settled philately that the stamp was engraved by John Henry Robinson of Londons’ Perkins, Bacon and Petch, printers of the Penny Black. The frame design was furnished by the engraver Jacques Wiener of the Belgian State Printing Works in Brussels. The dignified and deeply affecting countenance of Leopold was taken from an 1841 lithograph by Charles Baugniet. And, as you may be able to see somewhere down there in the ink, on the king’s shoulder are the military epaulettes for which the issue is now named.

It would seem reasonable that a person presenting the details of this stamp would at least borrow a mint example of Scott No. 6 to show off the points of interest – and I apologize for that –but the real points of interest to me and the fascinating aspect of many of my homeless stamps is what every used postage stamp has to offer: the wrinkles of a postal life. So there sits King Leopold, not entirely amused, behind 17 bars of greasy obliteration, waiting for someone to elaborate his significance to the 19th century.

Beneath the surface of all stamps and covers, we collect stories.

Okay, Leo, this one is for you.

In 1790, Prince Leopold was born into the Holy Roman Empire, the House of Wettin in the town of Coburg, the Saxon duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, which today is one of those leafy, Bavarian towns in central Germany on the river Itz, where tourists have been known to relax with a Coburg Lager.

At the end of the 18th century, war and revolt were ubiquitous in Europe. Young royals were eager to get into a uniform and Leopold had his fitting when he was six years old – with an honorary commission as a colonel in the Russian Imperial Guard. When Leopold was 12, he was promoted to Major General and, at 16, while Napoleon’s French troops were occupying Coburg, Leopold joined the Imperial Russian cavalry and distinguished himself against the French at the Battle of Klum.

By the time Napoleon was defeated in 1815, Leopold was 25, a lieutenant general and now in Great Britain where he was wooing Princess Charlotte of Wales, who happened to be in line for the British throne. She died delivering their stillborn son, which greatly saddened Leopold, who was invited to present himself as a candidate for King of Greece, which he turned down in 1830, and was then proposed as King of Belgium. He accepted and was crowned in July of 1831. Two weeks later the Netherlands invaded Belgium. And with that, King Leopold’s story begins ...

Boston 2026 World Expo and the History of Polar Exploration

(Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, May 23-30, 2026)

Yamil Kouri, Jr.

Boston 2026 World Expo will be held May 23-30, 2026, at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. This show will offer more exhibiting opportunities than the typical world philatelic exhibitions and the previous decennial international exhibitions that have been taking place in the United States for more than a century.

One of the events that will happen at Boston 2026, parallel with the conventional exhibits, is the Polar Salon. Polar Salon is the name given to a pavilion or show area containing exhibits devoted to the exploration and study of the earth’s poles and nearby territories.

BOSTON 2O26

WORLD EXPO

The Polar Class includes philatelic material concerning human activities and entities involving or related to the Arctic, Subarctic, Antarctic and Subantarctic regions. They may deal with these areas’ physical and natural sciences, geography and more. Its major philatelic subdivisions are: expeditions (for geographic and scientific exploration, social reasons, commercial, adventure and tourism); polar aerophilately (record and ordinary actual, anticipated or aborted flights, with at least one actual or intended polar leg); military and conflicts (war, readiness or civil disturbance); traditional (stamps, postmarks and postal history of polar entities); and thematics (flora, fauna, personalities, events –such as the Northwest Passage – and so on). In addition to the poles, some of the lands typically shown in the Polar Class include the Falkland Islands and Tristan da Cunha.

Polar postal history exhibits can deal with three periods, in chronological order: the Heroic Age (up to 1924), the Mechanical Age (1924-50) and the Modern Age (1951-present).

International Polar Salons have been held for approximately two and a half decades and usually take place every three to four years. There is a very strong connection between Boston and the history of polar exploration. Adm. Richard E. Byrd, a famous aviator and the foremost U.S. polar explorer of the 20th century, lived in Boston for more than 30 years, during which he led or participated in numerous polar expeditions.

The Polar Salon at Boston 2026 World Expo will be unusually large with approximately 200 frames. Exhibitors from North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and South America are expected to participate. In addition, there will be glass display cases containing documents and historical artifacts (such as the one shown below) from historic polar explorations, loaned by private collectors and institutions.

The Polar Salon at Boston 2026 is made possible, in part, thanks to the generous support of Jiři Kraus, a prominent collector, exhibitor and polar philately enthusiast from Liberec, Czech Republic. The Polar Salon space will be delineated by hard walls that will also enclose booths from specialized polar area collecting societies and stands of several polar region postal administrations. The logo of the Polar

Salon at Boston 2026 is shown nearby.

The Boston 2026 Polar Salon will have its own jury corps composed of four judges who are recognized experts in polar philately. Exhibits may be shown in any number of frames between one and 10. A polar exhibit may also be entered in the main Fédération Internationale de Philatélie (FIP) competition, but can still be displayed within the Polar Salon.

A seminar open to the public is also planned in conjunction with this special exhibition. The Polar Salon exhibition prospectus and application will be available soon.

For updates, please follow our website, www.Boston2026.org

I am indebted to Hal Vogel for his help preparing this brief article.

— Yamil H. Kouri, Jr., president Yamil.Kouri@Boston2026.org

1901-1904: Discovery Expedition, Charles Royds Medal

The Antarctic Sporting Medals were given to serving officers on the Discovery Expedition as prizes for their sporting achievements, ranging from sledge pulling to rifle shooting and skiing. The medals, struck in advance of the expedition, were devised as a way to keep morale high, with sporting events arranged to alleviate boredom during the long winters.

Obverse: A silver sporting medal awarded to First Lt. Charles W.R. Royds, the obverse with expedition emblem of a penguin on an ice-floe, an iceberg behind surrounded by the raised legend “DISCOVERY” NATIONAL ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION 1901.

Reverse: Raised legend “ANTARCTIC/ SPORTS/ WON BY,” “LT. C.W.R. ROYDS, R.N.,” engraved beneath.

321–332 CORINPHILA 3–8 JUNE 2024

Provenance: Rothschild collection (1965)

Renato Mondolfo (WIPA 1981)

Dr. Anton & Elisabeth Jerger

Provenance: Hiroyuki Kanai (1993)

Provenance: Alfred F. Lichtenstein (1968) Weill Brothers (1989) “Foxbridge”

Provenance: Rothschild collection (1947)

Harmers London sale (1965)

Dr. Anton & Elisabeth Jerger

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE JUNE 2024 SALE

Switzerland Federal Mail – Rare Frankings 1849–1854 – The Richard Schäfer Sr. Collection (part II)

South Africa & Pre-Union, Basutoland, South West Africa, St. Helena (part II) – The ‘BESANÇON’ Collection

Great Britain 1840–1910 – The ‘BESANÇON’ Collection (part V)

Australian States & Commonwealth of Australia – The ‘DUBOIS’ Collection (part IV)

New South Wales –incl. the “Mint” Collection of Peter Campbell Postal History of the World – The Enzo Carnio Collection

Brazil 1843 –1870 – The Fritz Heimbüchler Collection (part I)

Panama – The Classic Period 1807–1904 – The Álvaro Castro-Harrigan Collections

Worldwide Rarities – The ERIVAN Collection – 2nd Auction

Romania – Special Catalogue

Australian States “Unused” –The Peter Campbell Collection (part III)

Spain 1850 – 6 cuartos black – Specialised Collection (part II)

Mexico – Special Collection

AUCTION

Founded in 1919

Provenance: Arthur Hind (1934)

Provenance: Philipp von Ferrary (1922)

Provenance:

Tevfik Kuyas (1978)

Norman S. Hubbard (1986)

Dr. Hugo Goeggel (2013)

Maurice Burrus (1963)

Hiroyuki Kanai (1993)

Provenance: Collection ‘Justine’ (1992)

Provenance:

Alfred Caspary (1956)

Reinaldo Bruno Praccia (1987)

Angelo Lima (1993)

Almeida Diaz (1963)

Everaldo Santos (2001)

Luis Alemany Indarte (2013)

ORDER AUCTION CATALOGUES NOW

Postage for a complete set of 12 catalogues

CHF 20.–  EUR 20.–  US $ 30.-  GB £ 20.(including 9 hard bound auction catalogues)

OR VISIT WWW.CORINPHILA.CH

 catalogues online

 registration online

Provenance: Harmers Australia, Sydney (1976)

Rod Perry, Melbourne (1979)

Status, Sydney (1983)

Collection Arthur Gray (2015)

CORINPHILA AUKTIONEN AG

WIESENSTR 8 · 8032 ZURICH · SWITZERLAND

Phone +41-44-3899191

www.corinphila.ch

CORINPHILA VEILINGEN BV

AMSTELVEEN ∙ NETHERLANDS

Phone +31-20-6249740 · www.corinphila.nl

The Independent Mails Cover Survey Part 1: Survey Analysis

David R. Wilcox PhD

For 18 months in 1844 and 1845, several private mail companies challenged the U.S. government’s monopoly on the mail. This article summarizes a survey of all known surviving franked covers carried by nine of these independent mail companies. The conclusions and supporting data from this extensive survey are presented in the distribution graphs that follow. A history of the independent mails based on the survey will be presented in Part 2.

In an earlier article,1 the cover survey data that is discussed here was used to analyze the correspondences that went to the same addressee. For that earlier analysis, the original survey population of 1,339 covers was found to be unwieldy. Therefore, covers were selected that were genuine, with a clear addressee, and further sorted by the addressee on the cover. From this selection of 1,187 covers, a total of 509 fell into clusters of four or more. In New York City, even the street address was often known. These 54 correspondences were analyzed for destination and then the addressees further researched for occupation.

The conclusion drawn was that the independent mails, during their brief existence, served many merchants. A sizable number of these correspondence clusters could be traced to a small four-block segment of Front and South Streets on the East River shore of New York City.

This follow-up article will consider the full survey of 1,207 genuine covers and analyze the contributions of each of the nine companies to mail handling during the independent mail era. The effects on different regions of the northeast and some western states were of particular interest.

The information previously available on these companies was summarized by The Eastern Independent Mail Company Study Group in Eastern Independent Mail and Express Mail Companies (edited and published by Michael Gutman). They did not generally present surveys of covers as presented here, but they reviewed what was known through 2016 for 16 companies (not all produced adhesives). Those overviews of each of the 16 companies, and the various authors’ insights into what we know about these companies, is an excellent reference for those wishing to pursue this area of postal history. A bibliography of other useful references will be presented at the end of Part 2.

In the study summarized here, several facts were revealed. When the 1,005 datable independent mail covers are graphed, they graph as a bell-shaped curve of mail delivery activity that exploded and hit its peak in the summer of 1844.

Both Pomeroy’s Letter Express in Upstate New York, and Hale and Co., in New England, contributed significantly to that peak.

The companies grew by adding offices and new clientele, but also were ingenious in their business interactions, as they networked with other established private companies to offer patrons the ability to send their covers longer distances. This allowed them to compete better against the U.S. Post Office Department by offering delivery to places as far apart as Portland, Maine, and Chicago, Ill. Covers that show this combined effort to carry mail using other company networks are called conjunctive-use covers.

Hale and Company had several networks. The cover shown in Figure 1 illustrates a conjunctive-use cover that traveled from Upstate New York (by Pomeroy’s Letter Express) into New England, where Hale handed it off to H.T. Crowfoot’s Newburyport post office to deliver to William T. Marone, care of Reverend L.F. Dimiwick at the street address (Crowfoot carried several surviving covers but never released a postal adhesive). There were, therefore, three different independent mail companies involved in delivering this cover across two states. The three companies are represented by their handstamps on this cover that canceled the Pomeroy 117L1 black on yellow and the Hale 75L5, or they are represented by receiving handstamps on the cover itself.

Pomeroy’s Express served the Hudson and Mohawk Valleys, as well as other Upstate New York areas. Population centers, such as Buffalo, Rochester, Ithaca, Watertown and Albany were served. Pomeroy also interacted with Wells to help

Figure 1. A conjunctive-use cover from Upstate New York to Newburyport, Mass., involving three different independent mail carriers.

them service west of Buffalo to other cities, including Cleveland, Detroit and Toledo, Ohio; Chicago, Ill.; and Milwaukee, Wis.

Figures 2 and 3 show conjunctive-use covers between Pomeroy and Wells. Both required a triplet of Wells’ Letter Express stamps and two Pomeroy stamps.

The Figure 2 cover, with a strip of three 96L1, made its way from west of Buffalo (by Wells) through Upstate New York (by Pomeroy) and, finally, to Norwich Conn., on July 21, 1844. The “P” cancellation on the Pomeroy stamps was probably applied by one of Pomeroy’s agents.

The cover shown in Figure 3, to Pierpont and Hotchkiss in New Haven, Conn., has a pair and a single of Wells’ Letter Express 96L2 green stamps, along with two Pomeroy stamps canceled with a red “Cd” marking, often applied in Albany, N.Y. Amazingly, ALM (American Letter Mail) also handled the same cover, as evidenced by its black 5L2 stamp. So, this was a triple conjunctive-use cover, where each of the three companies applied their stamps to receive part of the fee for the mailing.

Figure 2. Conjunctive-use cover from Upstate New York to Norwich Conn., involving Pomeroy and Wells.

The straightline ALM handstamp dates the cover to the early fall of 1844, when ALM was experimenting with its previous handstamps and, later, introducing dated handstamps that di ff ered from city to city. This Pierpont and Hotchkiss cover seems to have traveled from a western city beyond Buffalo (by Le tt er Express), along the Erie Canal, through Albany N.Y., down the Hudson River into New York City (by Pomeroy) and then further east to New Haven in Connecticut (by ALM). A long journey that was made possible only by the companies’ networking.

Figure 3. A triple conjunctive-use cover involving three different independent mail companies and franked by all three.

The item shown in Figure 4 shows an even more amazing use of the networking the companies employed. Although it only survived as a piece, the item is a fascinating example of independent mails communicating together to move America’s mail across the country. The cover piece to Marcus Hicks appears to have made its way to Chicago, Ill. To get there from its source it needed two Pomeroy 117L6 stamps, which means it likely traveled through New York City, since all known surviving 117L6 lake stamps on cover originate from New York City. It had to be franked by two ALM 5L1 and a bisected Wells’ Letter Express 10c 96L3, which means it did not require the extra 5¢ the Wells’ 10¢ stamp normally indicated.

Some mail handlers did not issue adhesives. Other companies that began using stamps on their covers, also continued to carry covers without a postage stamp. Covers without stamps (stampless covers) were not surveyed in the study summarized in this article. Stampless covers are abundant. David Snow (personal communication) and others feel the “stampless” data might be very revealing.

A comprehensive survey of the stampless covers has never been published and would be useful for comparison to this study. Unless noted otherwise, all references to covers in this article are for those with adhesives (franked covers).

When using the U.S. government mail, favoritism, corruption and bureaucracy caused the cost of mailing a single letter or invoice in the mid-1800s to become extraordinarily expensive. Lucrative and sometimes exclusive contracts with private stagecoach lines, political cronyism and “free-franking” privileges caused

Figure 4. A rare piece apparently sent to Chicago with the help of three companies, using a pair of ALM’s 5L1, a pair of Pomeroy’s 117L6 and a bisect of Wells’ Letter Express 96L3.

the price of a common communication to be several times more than it needed to be in a society thirsting for growth.

With the United States’ successful movement westward, using both steamboats and steam-powered locomotives, commerce was thriving. The invention of steam power for the rivers and lakes, expansion of railway lines and the building of new waterways, such as the Erie Canal, were changing the speed at which information could flow across the nation. The telegraph was only in its infancy, so timely mail delivery was critical for economic success.

With new opportunities increasing and population centers stretching from Boston, New York City and Philadelphia to Chicago, there were repeated demands for postal reform. The slowness of the government response to these cries by the public opened opportunities for enterprising businesspeople to demonstrate a more efficient and less-expensive way to move the mail. For a brief time between January 1844 and the end of June 1845, the independent mail companies offered an alternative to the government’s inefficient mail delivery.

The independent mails were faster, relatively dependable and much less expensive. This came at a time just before the prepaid postage stamp first appeared in America. Independent mails still offered mail handling of stampless covers, but they introduced the postage stamp to the United States, with all its advantages and potential. This was only about four years after Great Britain’s Penny Black appeared and just two years after the City Despatch Post had experimented with the idea in New York City.

The independent mails offered discounts on stamps bought in quantity (generally “20 for a dollar”). Even without the discount, the postage was inexpensive (6¼¢), and the discount added to the attractiveness. The independent mails became a serious threat to the government’s mail system.

Postmaster General Charles A Wickli ff e (under President John Tyler) wrote about the impact on government revenues, and Congress fi nally passed the

Time proven Showgard® Mounts...

–Showgard Mounts are the choice and recommendation of experienced collectors.

–For over 25 years Showgard Mounts have proven perfectly safe for stamps under every climatic condition in all parts of the world.

–It is a philatelic fact that collectors switch to Showgard Mounts as they gain in experience. It’s a sensible idea to start and save with Showgard Mounts. At dealers everywhere. Available with Dark Display or clear see-through background.

For Free Sample and Size Gauge Please Write

VIDIFORMS CO. INC.

Showgard House

115 North Route 9W Congers, NY 10920

Act of March 3, 1845. But while Congress failed to legislate prior to this March act, the independent mails fl ourished.

The new nation’s government was forced to legislate a stop to these posts and forced their demise by July 1, 1845. From that day forward, it became illegal for private concerns to carry mail on the postroads (including the waterways), but the government also had to legislate lower postal rates. The American entrepreneurial spirit had forced long overdue changes.2

The Survey

A comprehensive survey of surviving covers carried by the independent mails has been completed. Using earlier partial surveys of surviving franked covers, and the excellent image records made available recently by search engines offered by auction houses and major expertizing organizations, 1,339 covers were surveyed. The survey details will be published in a series of “guide” books later. More than 90% of the covers are illustrated, and this means that the duplicate records that plagued previous survey attempts have been mostly eliminated.

Not only are most images now available, but most are in color, with good resolution. Many classic covers that saw bidding in older auctions have since been re-auctioned and their descriptions improved. The images have higher resolution, and for some covers images were not available at all until recently.

By combining the detailed cover surveys of all nine companies, it is finally possible to analyze the activity of the companies on a larger scale. With these results, we can finally begin to focus on the quantities of surviving franked covers and their distribution during the 18 months. This, in turn, reveals when the companies were most active and where activity occurred in various parts of the country. This also suggests the competition each company faced from the other independent mails. This has never been attempted before, because a comprehensive survey of all the surviving covers together did not previously exist.

Using opinions of researchers and stamp experts, 78 covers in the survey have been challenged as forgeries (5.8%). These were set aside. 1,261 genuine covers were then analyzed, and 1,005 could be dated. To the extent the surviving covers reflect the original population, this survey of genuine covers allows questions to be asked about the productivity of these early mails. Using this careful enumerating of surviving dated covers, several historical questions about this poorly understood time in philatelic history can now finally be addressed with less speculation than in the past.

How Cover Dates were Determined and Adjusted for the Survey

As with any survey of these often-rare covers, some will be missed. However, the size of this survey is unprecedented and, by setting restrictive criteria on determining each cover’s date, the graphs that follow in this article are the most reliable produced so far.

For inclusion in the dated part of the survey, covers were dated by a rigorous set of rules. An accurate “month” date was essential. The “day” was also required, except where a smeared date could be reasonably inferred. The correct “year” date was also critical, except in clear examples where other covers showed that only one year date was possible (Pomeroy or Hoyt’s Letter Express covers, for example, could have only been handled in 1844).

Some covers with a reported full date have been challenged in the literature. These were separated from the other fully dated covers. Even if ultimately found to be genuine, these questioned covers were not used in the graphing.

Those covers with no date, or those that had only a partial date, were also separated. Using the final 1,005 fully dated and unchallenged covers, it is now possible to graph distributions of the covers over time to expose patterns in the use of each of these private postage issues and compare patterns between all the independent mail companies. In addition, the dates were adjusted slightly as described following.

Assigning a date to a cover can sometimes be problematic. Dating a philatelic cover may require gathering information from diverse sources. This is especially true for covers from the independent mail era.

Far too often, classic postal covers cannot be dated as precisely as today, because dated handstamps were not yet common. Dates for covers from this period are sometimes recorded by a philatelist, based on an inside letter’s dateline or a date mentioned in the content. Unfortunately, the content does not always accompany the cover. The letter’s dateline is sometimes assumed from notations on the cover front often made years ago.

In addition, the content might only give a date when the letter was first composed but not when mailed (and this can vary, surprisingly). Alternatively, the date reported may come from a handstamp on the cover, which may be the date sent or the date received. Docketing on a cover can indicate when a cover was recorded by the company or sometimes when a reply was sent.

Each of these dates are precise points in time when they stand alone (although they are sometimes difficult to read, and errors do occur). They give a point when the cover was handled, but the life of the cover (or folded

invoice) extends from when it is generated until it is sent and received, or sometimes not until it is answered. So, while these dates have accuracy, large surveys of covers using these reported dates would be comparing data obtained at different moments in a cover’s journey.

If the exact date when a cover was mailed was known for all covers, that date would be a desirable data point for a statistical study. Later, with the introduction of dated handstamps, this requirement might be more feasible. But that precise information is not known for many surviving covers from this era, where dated handstamps are uncommon. Therefore, a new number was assigned to each cover before it was used in graphing the timelines that follow.

Since mail-handling companies are businesses, the single number unit assigned was the “business week” in which the cover spent most of its life. The business week from Monday through Sunday was chosen. This number was then used to generate more realistic distribution graphs (histograms) of the data. This approach recognizes that philatelic cover dates can be obtained from different points in the life of a cover, and in that sense, are not all equal. A cover’s life might span a weekend, so the week assigned was based on how close the date known was nearest the probable mailing date.

Unlike calendar dates, there is no numbering system for the seven-day “business week.” There are seven days in a week, but Monday’s calendar dates are not a multiple of seven over several months. For the independent mails (and other commercial ventures), the business week was a particularly relevant measure of time (as it is today). It was used for timing events and measuring profits. Since postal covers are assigned dates from dissimilar sources, the business week was chosen as a broader, but more realistic, unit of measure.

All systems of numbers need a beginning point, and philately has a beginning date: the first full business week of May 1840 when the Penny Black first appeared in England. Since business weeks units have no name, we will invent one here and call it the PBB week (Penny Black Business, meaning the business weeks since the first appearance of the Penny Black).

The PBB for the Penny Black is “1.” The PBB for the first adhesive stamp used in America, the City Despatch Post cover dated 2-1-42 (Feb. 1, 1842) in New York City is “PBB 92.” The independent mails were active between weeks “PBB 192 and PBB 270.” Wells Fargo EKU has the PBB week number of 1097. The carriers-and-locals era began its end with the California local called the Bicycle Mail Route. This was PBB 2827 (7-9-1894).

Distribution graphs of covers surveyed over time (histograms) are created with the intent of revealing patterns in the data. Histograms based on large numbers of dates are produced by placing the dates in buckets or bins of a certain size to “smooth out” the data to reveal patterns that can be lost when only single data points are graphed. The bin selected gives the best visual represen-

tation of the trend the histogram reveals. There is nothing wrong with plotting every single point, but such a graph can be less informative than a histogram with a larger bin number.

The PBB can be thought of as designating a philatelic cover to something similar to a statistical bin (the business week being the bin). However, the PBB is different than a statistical bin that is only helping us understand the distribution better. The PPB is a more realistic measure of the cover’s date. It is an appropriate correction made first, and it is necessary due to the variability during the independent mail era with which philatelic covers are dated. After correcting for the PBB, the graphs in this study usually also applied a bin of two to eight PBB to smooth out the histograms message.

I feel the PPB is the most appropriate unit for these studies. However, it may not be critical when the study sample is large. The independent mail covers surveyed ranged from 530 covers for the largest company (Hale and Co.) and only eight for the smallest company (Hoyt’s Letter Express). Of the 530 Hale and Co covers surveyed, 431 could still be fully dated. However, Hoyts’ covers fell from eight genuine to just six that could be fully dated. Hartford’s black on pink (80L3) has only five fully datable covers.

Since all major conclusions drawn in this report are broad generalizations, they should still stand whether the PPB is used or not. It is doubtful this needed correction will change our overall perceptions. However, researchers asking more refined questions from this cover survey data in the future should be aware of the potential pitfalls of using philatelic cover dates where the sample size is exceedingly small. After handstamps with the date of mailing became more common later, the PBB adjustment is less important.

Summary of the Survey

Figure 5 shows two graphs. The upper and larger histogram plots all 1,005 of the surveyed fully dated private post covers from January 1844 through June 1845. The lower graph plots the independent mail covers relative to just a few of the many local posts active in America and producing adhesive postage stamps in the 19th century. The independent mails preceded almost all these local posts.

The Independent Mails peaked in the second half of 1844.

The ACT of MARCH 3rd 1845 ended their reign on 6-30-1845. Many more local posts followed.

Figure 5. the distribution of 1,005 dated Independent Mail covers in the survey gives a bell-shaped curve. The bottom graph shows the timeframe of the Independent Mails relative to some later posts.

F o

Note the lower graph is not quantitative for all the post, the brown marks just show points in time.

Based on the surviving franked covers, the independent mails peaked in the second half of 1844. Although not perfectly symmetrical, the distribution appears bell shaped, with ALM and Hale slowly beginning sales in early 1844 until the independent mail activity exploded in the summer and into the early fall of 1844.

The government’s Act of March 3, 1845, stated that as of the end of June 1845, it was illegal to use the USPOD postroads for transport of mail by private posts. This marked the end of the independent mails. The government showed its resolve by promising to lower U.S. postal rates to levels comparable to those of the private posts. It inferred that the U.S. government would now become an improved alternative to the private posts. So, this likely explains the trailing off of surviving covers during early 1845 up until the end of June as the private posts’ allure diminished.

Figure 6. The largest-known multi-franked private post cover was carried by Hale and Co. and was franked with a strip of four and one additional single example of that issue (75L5).

U.S. government postage was based of mileage, and early letters sent over long distances cost several times the cost of using the independent mails that charged by the ½ ounce. However, heavier letters did occur, so a few private post covers bear more than just one stamp. Figures 6 and 7 show some of the more dramatic examples of these multi-franked covers.

The cover shown in Figure 6 illustrates the largest multi-franked cover that was surveyed. It was sent Sept. 9, 1844, for Ms. Anne Jean Lyman, in the care of Honorable Joseph Lipman, by Hale & Co. from New York City to Northampton, Mass. From what we can read, the letter discusses family matters and the writer’s upcoming trip to Philadelphia. Joseph was a judge in Northampton, but at the time the letter was sent, he was only a few years away from his death in 1847 at age 80 (FamilySearch.com). There is no mention of Anne Jean. A rare strip of four 75L5 was included in the franking.

Figure 7 shows the largest franked cover surveyed for Pomeroy’s Letter Express 117L1. It is franked with four unattached yellow and black 117L1, which

Figure 7. Largest-known franking of 117L1 Pomeroy Express. It used four single stamps.

Mail Handling by Independent Mail Companies

Hoyt8816

Wyman223316

was Pomeroy’s general issue. The cover was sent from New York City on July 10, 1844, to Sibley and Worden, in Canandaigua, N.Y., which is southeast of Rochester on Canandaigua Lake. Each of the four stamps are canceled by red “Cd” cancels, which are often seen on Albany covers. Pomeroy served Upstate New York all the way from New York City to Albany, Watertown and Buffalo. This was an early cover for this company as it only opened for business on June 29, 1844, just two weeks earlier.

Pomeroy’s success in the summer of 1844 was meteoric. Hale and Co. carried far more mail, yet Pomeroy was targeted by the government relentlessly. Table 1 suggests why this happened.

Comparing just the surviving ALM and Pomeroy covers shows they were comparable in number; however, Hale & Co. survivors were twice as numerous. ALM and Hale had the longest durations based on EKU/LKU of dated covers with adhesives, but Pomeroy only lasted 17 weeks.

One can wonder, therefore, why Pomeroy became such a government target. Table 1 shows that when the number of covers that survived is corrected for the weeks the company was active, Pomeroy was fully competitive with Hale. This is particularly obvious if surviving covers from each company are just compared during the specific time Pomeroy was active. The adjusted number of covers carried for Pomeroy in the survey (184) are similar to Hale’s number (204). That summer of 1844, Pomeroy became a major force in the world of independent mail handling, and the government took notice.

With access to the West through Buffalo and Pomeroy’s close ties with Wells’ Letter Express westward, Pomeroy became a major threat to the government’s mail handling. Due to of government pressure, Pomeroy was forced to close the earliest of the major private posts of that era.

Figure 8 breaks down the data represented in Figure 5, sorted by the four definable regions most active at that time. The plots follow the numbers of covers entering and leaving combined together to give the larger “big picture” of mailhandling activity. The profile for the Philadelphia and New York City corridor

Table 1. Mail Handled by the Independent Mail Companies.

fig8 Mail Handled by Major Regions

Covers Mailed TO and FROM the Region (combined)

1005 Fully Dated Covers in the Survey, all graphs bin=2, gray columns are half year marks

Full plot is Jan '44 to June '45.

Figure 8. The distributions of the surveyed covers separated by major U.S. Regions. Covers mailed to and from a region are combined.

maintained a relatively steady level of mail flow. However, all other regions exploded in the summer of 1844 due to the arrival of Pomeroy Express and the expansion of Hale and Co.

Covers without full dates could not be plotted, of course, but when all known covers dated and undated are tallied and separated by entering or leaving a region, an even clearer picture arises. The raw numbers for each region had to be adjusted slightly, because when all covers are counted, those with an unknown origin are not equal or proportional in all regions.

After that adjustment, however, New England received the equivalent of 634 covers but sent out about half as many at only 326 covers. As mentioned earlier, it is believed that less than 5% of the covers mailed survived until today, so the true number of covers handled was many times the numbers just given. For New England, having only half as many covers arriving compared to the number of covers sent away is a significant and striking difference.

For the Philadelphia to New York City corridor, the comparable numbers are 129 covers leaving the region (mostly Philadelphia but a few Baltimore and Pittsburgh) to 154 covers coming in. This is a more balanced exchange of mail handling. Given the low sample size, the conclusion is that mail flow was fairly even along this corridor, although total mail handling did increase during the summer of 1844, when both Pomeroy and Hale were expanding.

Looking at the Upstate region however, the surveyed covers moving out of the region is 254 and 165 flowing into the region. Therefore, for Upstate New York (which includes the western cities past Buffalo), again more covers are flowing out of the region than flowing in. For New England, the cover outflow was two times the numbers flowing in, and for Upstate New York, the calculation is that about one and a half more covers flowed out of that region than arrived. In summary, Philadelphia mail handling held somewhat constant, but New England and Upstate New York showed a similar flow pattern with significantly more covers leaving those two regions than arriving.

The reason becomes obvious when the large city in the middle, New York City, is analyzed. Mail in and out of New York City was calculated to be 194 covers going out, but a whopping 601 covers coming in. That is a three-fold increase in covers arriving, when compared to covers leaving the big city. One reason may be that many of the covers arriving in New York City were dealing with fi nancial and commerce issues. Perhaps more money, contracts and invoices were fl owing into the city than going out.

The graph shown in Figure 8 dealt with all covers mailed into NYC. The Figure 9 graph, however, shows only the covers sent from New England into New York City. The data is separated by companies. The previous article on this survey (comparing correspondence groups of four or more covers) came to a similar conclusion as here. Commerce and fi nancial ma tt ers dominated

the covers that the independent mails were handling, and New York City was the main target.

This is also consistent with the proposal that three small companies in New England (Hartford Mail Route, W. Wyman, and Overton & Co.) and a fourth company, Brainard & Co. in New York State, all seem to have a greater mail flow into New York City than out. Brainard and these three New England posts were smaller companies than ALM, Pomeroy or Hale, but it suggests mail flow from all the independent mails favored New York City as its destination.

The earlier article on correspondences concluded Wall Street and the merchants along the East River shore were a significant reason for this unbalanced flow. For mail flow into New York City from New England, ALM showed a presence early, but Hale & Co dominated, beginning in late spring 1844. For the three small Connecticut companies (Hartford, Overton and Wyman), 95% of their franked mail in the survey was carried to New York City.

There still was plenty of mail flow other than just New York City, of course. The Figure 10 graph looks at the mail handled only by Boston from all sources, not just New York City (although the city likely dominated). This data is separated by companies. The Boston/NYC corridor was competitive, and the Boston area was a prized New England center for mail handling.

In early 1844, ALM was strong in Boston, but by summer, Hale was stronger. Based on the franked covers plotted in Figure 10, ALM may have reduced its efforts in Boston in the final months of that company’s existence (spring/summer 1845). As is true of all data in this article, stampless covers (including the government stampless) may offer a different picture, but we do not have that data. When comparing companies, the volume of franked Boston mail carried by Hale in New England far exceeded the other companies with ALM coming in a distant second.

In Figure 11, the data is plotted for regions of New England, with all companies combined. Boston mail is separated by inbound and outgoing. In addition, four other regions are plotted for total activity (in and out combined). When all companies are considered as a larger picture, more mail was sent from Boston than received, and this imbalance stayed constant over the 1½ years the independent mails were active.

The rest of Massachusetts (including New Bedford), Rhode Island, Connecticut and Maine all have similar distributions when all mail delivery (in and out) is considered. These four regions apparently had limited activity until Boston began reaching its peak through the summer of 1844. Therefore, the summer 1845 peak in activity seen for all companies when combined (see Figure 5) also saw a similar peak in activity across all regions of New England, including the smaller centers such as Rhode Island and New Bedford. Activity continued at a low level into the end of summer 1845, with mail handling in Maine and Massachusetts

fig9 New England Mail to NYC by Company

The Boston/NYC corridor was competitive. ALM showed a strong presence early, but Hale & Co. dominated beginning in late spring 1844 (stampless were not surveyed).

Of all covers mailed from New England, 77% were mailed TO NYC. Three small companies were also involved. Hartford may have had ties to Hale. Overton eventually purchased Wyman. For the 3 small companies, 95% of their mail was carried TO NYC, perhaps specializing in legal/financial documents that did not require a reply.

Figure 9. The distribution of the surveyed covers sent from New England into NYC. The data is separated by companies.

fig10 Mail Handled in BOSTON by COMPANY

The Boston area was a prize New England center for mail handling. In early 1844, ALM was strong, but by summer, HALE was stronger, and ALM seems to have slowed delivery to and from BOSTON in the final months as the government closed them all down 6-30-45.

(graycolumnsare1/2yr.marks)

Also some BOSTON mail was handled by Brainard (3 in, 0 out) & Hartford (2 in, 0 out).

May-June 2024

www.collectorsclub.org

Figure 10. Distribution of covers handling by Boston (in and out combined) separated by companies.

fig11 Mail Handled in NE CENTERS by CITY or REGION

These graphs compare the MAIL HANDLING ACTIVITY in different NE Cities and Regions

Boston sent more covers than it received. Other centers volume was lower. The distribution is similar for all, although non-Boston centers did not generally begin franked mail until into June 1844.

Figure 11. The Boston mail separated by received and sent by all companies. In addition, four other regions are plotted for total activity (all companies, in and out combined).

(other than Boston) perhaps decreasing the most based on this data. By June 30, 1845, all mail carried by the independent mails stopped.

Figure 12 plots the cover data in the survey involving the Philadelphia-NYC corridor. Unlike the other active regions, competition in the Philadelphia-NYC corridor mostly just involved ALM and Hale. Mail moving into this corridor is compared in the upper two panels, and mail flowing out of this region is shown in the lower two panels. ALM initially dominated this corridor, but Hale increased mail delivery by the summer of 1844 and into the fall.

The two companies carried similar volumes of mail overall, but with diff erent pa tterns. Beginning in June 1844 (under its new owner), ALM’s strength was in delivering mail from Philadelphia to New York City and beyond, while Hale’s strength was in delivering mail to Philadelphia. This is consistent with Hale’s general increase in activity in New England and illustrates Hale’s expansion westward.

Figure 13 plots mail flow into and out of Upstate New York. While Hale and ALM carried some franked mail in Upstate, the overall volume carried by these two companies was not as significant as mail carried by Pomeroy and Wells’ Letter Express. Both Pomeroy and Wells released four separate issues, but Pomeroy was by far the dominant carrier and was also involved with some of Wells’ activity in carrying mail to New York City. Only two of the Wells issues are plotted here since they were used most.

Four of the Pomeroy issues are combined in one plot, because it appears that although they were used primarily in separate cities, they may all have had a similar purpose. Note these four single-color issues stopped when the Pomeroy offices closed, and all four stopped as Pomeroy’s general black-on-yellow issue (117L1) continued appearing.

Brainard’s blue issue was used into the spring of 1845 and, apparently, almost exclusively to New York City. Earlier, both the blue and black Brainard issues were used concurrently, but the blue issue saw more activity later.

Figure 14 illustrates the consequences of the Pomeroy closing. The government’s relentless attacks on Pomeroy and his possible continued ties to his original package company (Livingston’s), probably lead to Pomeroy’s closing at the end of the summer of 1844. Wells and Brainard continued for a brief time after Pomeroy’s closing. However, by the end of the year, it appears that extraordinarily little franked mail was carried into Upstate New York by any of the independent mails.

Only Brainard continued to be active into 1845, carrying mail mostly from Albany south to New York City, but seldom north into Upstate. Based on the franked covers, the mail flow by independent mail companies into Upstate New York essentially ended a few months after Pomeroy’s demise. Unfortunately, there is no comprehensive data on surviving stampless covers from the independent mails, but it is assumed those covers decreased dramatically also (although

fig12

Mail Handled PHIL-NYC by Company

Unlike the other active regions, competition in the Philadelphia-NYC corridor mostly involved just ALM and Hale and about equally.

Of 269 dated/undated covers surveyed involving PHIL-NYC, 96% were ALM/Hale. 11 were sent within the region. 38 were origins unknown. ALM initially dominated this corridor, but by the summer of 1844, Hale increased mail delivery to this corridor, which continued until closing.

(graycolumnsarehalfyearmarks)

Beginning in June '44 (under its new owner), ALM's strength changed, now delivering FROM Philadelphia, while Hale's strength continued to grow delivering TO Philadelphia. Their roles gradually switched during the summer of 1844. Hale carried almost NO covers from this region until the last few months. Half of these late covers were from Baltimore (a city ALM had tried early but discontinued).

Figure 12. The distribution of dated covers carried into and out of the Philadelphia-NYC corridor.

fig13 Independent Mail Handling in Upstate NY by Company

Single-color Pomeroy stopped first, 5c pink Letter Express and Brainard's blue outlasted their counterparts.

Pomeroy was forced out of business sometime into Sept. '44.

Most 5c green Letter Express stamps were used earl y. Boyd's green stamps may have caused confusion.

Letter Express 5c pink seemed to replace the green especially after the Pomeroy offices closed.

Brainard's black issue was used along with the blue issue earlier.

Brainard's blue issue was used into the Spring of 1845, but then, almost exclusively TO NYC.

Pomeroy's single-color issues ended sooner than 117L1. Possible they were not sold to the public. 6/444/45

May-June 2024

www.collectorsclub.org

Figure 13. Mail flow into and out of Upstate New York, separated by company.

fig14 Consequences of the Pomeroy Closing

With Pomeroy's demise, competitors moved in, but finally, it was the end of most INDEPENDENT MAIL delivery INTO upstate NY (and the West) by the year's end.

POMEROYS REIGN (all issues)

Figure 14. The consequences of the Pomeroy closing. It appears that no Independent Mail of significance flowed into Upstate New York after the closing.

perhaps with some stragglers). On the other hand, government mail continued in Upstate New York and filled the void.

A Summary of the Survey and Conclusions

The previous graphs of the survey results tell a story of the history of the independent mail companies in America from January 1844 until they were closed by the U.S. government on June 30, 1845. Although the population of surviving covers represents an exceptionally low percentage of the original population (likely in the single digits), this is the most comprehensive survey reported to date of what is known about the surviving franked covers.

More covers will likely be discovered, but with today’s technologies, the larger picture may not change dramatically. Our knowledge of this period in philately will always be limited by the sparse numbers of covers that have survived.

In addition, there is a near complete absence of any historical writings (a few recollections but little contemporaneus). The greatest hindrance is the absence of company ledgers, and since the companies were private, there are no public records of how they ran their businesses day to day. Almost all we know comes from the surviving covers, their stamps and, now, the distribution of covers used over time.

No single study has been able to determine a percentage of cover survival that can be applied to all earlier postage stamps, if that is even possible (although some researchers have tried). Certainly, we have no idea the frequency of individual events that might have affected each company’s stamps from being saved. Unlike public ventures that existed around that time that often preserved their records, independent mails have, so far, left little to analyze today except the covers themselves.

This survey of surviving franked covers, however, offers the most complete window we have on how these companies grew and potentially interacted, based on the mail they carried. A vast majority of the original mail has been lost with time, but hopefully, the patterns seen in this survey of survivors reflect the mail handling activity 180 years ago.

It is difficult to extrapolate from these numbers except on the broadest scale. So, caution is needed. Several examples can be shown where a cluster of one correspondence was discovered many years later, and that correspondence dominated the surviving independent mail covers known for that particular company. Sileston and Hollingsworth, Porter, Hopkins and Weston for ALM; Clark and Coleman for Hartford; Johnson, Shepard for both the Letter Express and Pomeroy’s; and Robbins for Wyman, to name just a few.

Where the number of surviving covers is lower, this can affect our perception of the activity and timeframes that any one of these companies experienced. However, now that we can scan the entire known database for known franked covers from all nine companies, the beginning of a larger picture is possible.

If there was a comparable survey of stampless covers from this era, the assumption is that stampless covers would increase the estimates of how much mail handling a company performed. Stampless covers might also modify the estimated duration of a post. As far as we know, however, agents of the independent mail companies did not separate the franked covers from the stampless, nor is there any reason to believe they might.

Therefore, it is expected that both franked and stampless covers would have similar distributions where both existed together. However, without a survey of the stampless, we do not know. Therefore, for now, we have a strong database of franked covers, and the history it suggests can now be described. A history of the independent mails based on the surviving franked covers will be presented in Part 2.

Footnotes

1. Wilcox, David R., “Correspondences of the U.S. Independent Mails 1844-45,” Collectors Club Philatelist 2023, 102:6 (November-December) pp. 340-368.

2. Trepel, Scott R., “Independent Mails: A Historical Overview,” Introduction to Eastern Independent Mail and Express Mail Companies (Michael Gutman editor), 2016.

All Collectors Club presentations are currently held online, via ZOOM, beginning at 5:30 p.m. (Eastern). Although there is no cost, pre-registration is necessary.

See More for More Security: VSC 8000

The Video Spectral Comparator (VSC) sets new quality standards within the philatelic auction sector. State-of-the-art technology for precise analysis of cancellations, overprints and embossing.

Your purchases are protected like never before, exclusively at Heinrich Köhler, using the VSC 8000. For long-lasting enjoyment of your collection.

It Started With A Balloon …

an interview with Henry Scheuer

Olivia Gilmer

Aug. 17, 1859, marks the date that John Wise, an aeronaut best remembered for his innovation in the field of ballooning, orchestrated the first official airmail flight. His balloon was set to depart Lafayette, Ind., and reach New York City with 123 pieces of mail. Senders were instructed to address their envelopes “Via Balloon Jupiter.”

Eager to witness the first attempted movement of mail through the air, a large crowd gathered to watch the balloon set sail. However, due to inclement weather, the balloon was forced to abandon its mission and divert to nearby Crawfordsville, Ind., only 30 miles from its point of origin (the flight would be jeeringly dubbed by some as the first “trans-county-nental” voyage.) The mail would continue its journey to New York via railroad. Nevertheless, Wise’s pioneering efforts would be commemorated a century later with an anniversary celebration in Lafayette. It was here that an 11-year-old Henry Scheuer stood alongside his mother, gazing at a colorful array of balloons launching into the air, not yet aware of the significance this day would have on the trajectory of his life. “The local newspaper was advertising the release of a new postage stamp to commemorate the Balloon Jupiter stamp that came out in August of 1959,” Scheuer explained. “The newspaper provided instructions on how to prepare first-day covers.” Scheuer’s father helped him create a first-day cover for the occasion, forging a father-son bonding activity that continued well into his teenage years.

To this day, Scheuer’s collecting remains focused around first-day covers from 1847 through 1999. As a young man attending college in Montreal, Scheuer frequented the brick-and-mortar stamp shops that dotted cities during this period, acquainting himself with diverse philatelic material and consequently building his knowledge. By 1971 Scheuer was living in New York City and, for the first time, bidding at auction. He was now a serious collector, and it was only natural that he join the Collector’s Club. “I began to attend meetings,” reflected Scheuer, “which set me on a steep learning curve to become a more knowledgable collector.”

The Key to successful collecting

Knowledge, according to Scheuer, is paramount: “Obtain as much knowledge as you can by surrounding yourself with people who are in a position to provide it. One of the reasons to join the Collectors Club is to rub elbows with fellow collectors and listen to the process of how others collect and pursue their passion.” In addition to knowledge, Scheuer provides four fundamentals that are key to the success of any

new collector: a passion for the material, time to dedicate to research and accumulation, an ultimate collecting goal, and (to a lesser extent) the funds necessary to achieve that goal.

Front and back of a most unusual – and historically significant – first-day cover, sent to Vietnam in 1975.

When asked how he sees the current philatelic market evolving, Scheuer argues that with a vast online market of philatelic material, collectors are “no longer beholden to the catalog.” Equipped with the research tools and transparency that the internet provides, collectors today are “gravitating toward scarcity and rarity –toward things that are rarely encountered, at every price point.” In other words, collectors are no longer constrained by the idea that a higher catalog value invariably equates to more desirable material.

A cover or stamp of modest monetary value has the capacity to illustrate a specific moment in history as much as any higher-value item. This is exactly what Scheuer conveys by sharing one of his favorite covers: a first-day cover of the 1975 10¢ Lexington and Concord stamp that was sent to Vietnam just 11 days before the Fall of Saigon. Amidst the turmoil, the cover could not reach its intended destination, and was marked “Mail Service to Country of Address Has Been Suspended” and returned to sender. For this significant piece of history, Scheuer spent $3.

Scheuer concludes that it is historical context that will ultimately capture a new, more diverse generation of collectors: “Social philately is on the ascent, and ‘classical’ philately – the watermarks, perforations, and such – have already been exhaustively researched.” Even as an accomplished and seasoned philatelist, he does not feel obliged to organize his collection in a rigid, traditional manner. Aside from his main area of interest, first-day covers, Henry is willing to pick up covers he finds to be of historical interest, regardless of price or eminence.

Perhaps all collectors would benefit from disregarding the idea that “cheap” is not the same as worthless – armed with knowledge and passion, one can find a $3 cover that is, in many ways, priceless.

Noted in Passing on the Auction Block

Matthew Healey

The following notable items are from recent auctions that were advertised in the Collectors Club Philatelist. Members who do business with these firms should be sure to thank them for their support of our journal. If you have spotted—or personally bought or sold—an item you feel is worthy of inclusion in the next round-up, no matter the price, please drop a note to secretary@collectorsclub.org.

Riddle of the Sphinx From New York

€615 ($667)

David Feldman SA, Geneva: The Joseph Chalhoub collection, Part IX, Dec. 4-9, 2023, Lot 10054. Further details at www.davidfeldman.com

Egypt’s ruler, Ismail Pasha, in 1867 persuaded the Ottoman sultan to grant his country de facto independence. Ismail was thereby promoted from wali (governor or viceroy) to khedive (lord) and set about modernizing the country, most famously cooperating with the French to build the Suez Canal. An independent Egyptian post office was also established at this time. Postal services of one sort or another had been available in Egypt since the early 19th century,

variously operated by the British, French and Italians; the British in particular had a keen interest in Egypt as a vital postal link to India, Australia and the Far East. By 1866 it was already clear that the newly established Khedivate would be taking control of its own postal services, and several parties began jockeying for a contract to print Egyptian stamps. A number of beautiful essays survive from this time, produced as far afield as Genoa, Florence, Paris, London and New York. Some of them are quite intricate, including some marvelously detailed three-color vignettes. The large die proof shown here (with enlarged detail) was prepared in 1867 in New York City by the National Bank Note Co., as an essay for a 1-piaster stamp depicting the Great Pyramid and Sphinx of Giza. Note that the Sphinx’s feet are still covered in sand; their excavation would not begin until the 1870s. NBNC did not obtain the contract, which went instead to the firm of Penasson in Alexandria. According to Feldman, Chalhoub’s collection of Egypt is considered the most comprehensive ever formed. Many of the more than 300 essays and proofs in this sale trace their provenance to past collections such as those of King Farouk, Britain’s Royal Philatelic Collection, Vahan Andonian and others. (Realization includes 23% buyer’s premium.)

Reunion—for the First Time

$20,060

Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries, New York: The Dr. Géza Homonnay collection of First Issues of the World on Cover, March 5, 2024 (Sale 1313), Lot 3196. Further details at www.siegelauctions.com.

Many collectors pursue the first issues of the world, trying to obtain an example of “number one” from every stamp-issuing entity going back to the Penny Black. While this can be a challenge, it is a different level of difficulty altogether to try and obtain all the world’s No. 1s on cover. Dr. Homonnay, who lives in Budapest and is the president of the Hungarian Academy of Philately, assembled what Siegel described as the “philatelic version … of a buffet,” with its emphasis on eye appeal, rarity and condition. Penny Blacks on cover are easy to find; superb strips of four (gracing the cover in Lot 3001), not so much.

A single franking with Iceland’s 4-skilling of 1873 (Lot 3260) is one of only two in private hands. Obscurity was no obstacle either, demonstrated by the cover from the Transcaucasian Federated Republics (Lot 3381). An ornate 1892 judicial cover from Anjouan in the Comoros, bearing a large red-and-gold crest and two red wax seals (Lot 3167), had to be one of the most beautiful items in the sale. But the prize for combining all these elements in one splendid item probably belongs to the skinny 1852 cover bearing the typeset 15c black-onblue No. 1 from the remote French Indian Ocean colony of Réunion (Lot 3196, shown on page 181). These stamps were locally produced on flimsy, ungummed paper when a shipment from France failed to provide all the needed denominations. Only five solo covers have survived bearing this classic rarity, and the neat, well-preserved letter to France contains all the elements of a quintessential cover. (Realization includes 18% buyer’s premium.)

Brigham’s Impressive Black Empresses C $171,825 (US $124,500)

Eastern Auctions, Bathurst, N.B., Canada: The Brigham Estate, Province of Canada

Part 3, March 8, 2024, Lot 7. Further details at www.easternauctions.com

In any ordinary sale, the presence of even a single example of Canada’s legendary Queen Victoria 12-pence black of 1851, the top value in the nation’s first stamp issue, would be noteworthy, and its realization a likely cause for celebration. But the dispersal of the late Ron Brigham’s collection of Canada’s early issues, now in its third installment, makes for no ordinary sale. Though more than 50,000 of what Eastern, without exaggeration, dubbed “Canada’s most famous stamp” were printed at the time (in New York City, ahem), the issue proved unpopular and just a few hundred were actually sold, with the remainder being destroyed. Of the survivors, perhaps 120 to 130 examples have come down to us today, many of them in somewhat less than very-fine condition. The largest surviving multiple is a pair. At one time, there were six unused and three used pairs known; two of the mint pairs are in museums and another was broken up decades ago, along with one of the used pairs. It should not really surprise anyone that Brigham, who is widely acknowledged as having assembled the greatest collection of Canadian stamps of all time, owned not one, but

May-June 2024

www.collectorsclub.org

Discover A World of Stamps

If you are subscribed to the Stanley Gibbons email newsletter you may have already seen that we have been running a regular feature on some of our favourite and lesser-known catalogues, bringing you insight and opinions from our experts and passionate collectors.

of our Cyprus, Gibraltar & Malta catalogue. Commonwealth specialist Robert Smith introduces us to a stamp of Cyprus within the catalogue.

SG142 18pi. black and olive-green

The design features the large courtyard of the Buyuk Khan (Great Inn), Nicosia, around which are arched warehouses and stables with rooms above for travellers and merchants. The Khan was built shortly after the capture of Nicosia by the Turks in 1570, and was paid for by a tax of two paras on every inhabitant of Cyprus. In the nineteenth century it became the Nicosia Central Prison.

was mainly used to pay postage on heavier airmail letters. The

Discover more stamps

Discover more stamps of the islands through the recently updated 6th Edition.

catalogue.

“Buyuk Khan, Nicosia”

and scarlet “Statue of Neptune” yellow-green "Moorish Castle”

within this comprehensive

The Cyprus, Gibraltar & Malta 6th Edition is available to purchase at

two, extraordinary pairs of Canada No. 3 – one each mint and used. The mint pair, a lower-margin duo with superlative margins, ex Dale-Lichtenstein and Nickle, fetched $740,625 Canadian ($536,500 U.S.); the used pair, with discreet target cancels giving it remarkable eye appeal and more than compensating for a somewhat close margin at lower right, boasts a provenance that includes Charles Lathrop Pack, John du Pont and the Weill Brothers. Its buyer can surely be feeling no remorse today. Naturally, the sale also included an example of the 12 pence on cover, along with a slew of die proofs and specimens. Truly an offering for the ages. (Realization includes 18.5% buyer’s premium.)

Six of the Best From Bavaria

€317,200 ($336,800)

Heinrich Köhler GmbH, Wiesbaden, Germany: Erivan collection of German States, Part 11, (383rd Auction), March 14-15 and 18-23, 2024, Lot 8. Further details at www.heinrich-koehler.de/en

Bavaria was among the first European countries to issue adhesive postage stamps, in the fall of 1849, following the Swiss Cantons, France and Belgium. Two plates were used. This cover, sent from the village of Pörnbach in the district of Pfaffenhofen, north of Munich, to a town called Aichach, about 20 miles away, bears a nearly flawless, full-margined vertical strip of six from the first (rougher) printing plate. Like the Penny Black, Bavaria’s No. 1 comes in both normal and deep black shades; this strip is in the more desirable deep black. Only two other covers are known with a strip of six (none larger) of Bavaria’s first stamp, both in the ordinary black shade. One has not been seen in 90 years, according to Köhler’s write-up, which proclaims this unique cover one of the “spektakulärsten” postal history items of Bavaria. Bidders evidently agreed; it was hammered down for more than six times its opening bid. (Realization includes 22% buyer’s premium.)

May-June 2024

www.collectorsclub.org

Nobody does it better.

Heritage—Over 75 years of experience in expertizing stamps and covers from the greatest collections ever formed.

Expertise—An outstanding staff of in-house experts and consultants with lifetimes of experience backed by a 250-volume reference collection and the latest in high technology equipment.

Authority—Recognition as a leader that comes from a time-honored history of knowledge and expertise.

Certificates—With over 590,000 certificates issued to date, a PF Certificate is recognized as the most authoritative and reliable opinion in all of U.S. philately.

Add value to your collection with a PF Certificate.

Scott 11 graded 100-J. PF Certificate 521651

Scott 233 graded 98-J. PF Certificate 431008

Scott 17 graded 100-J. PF Certificate 535539

Book Reviews

Valter Astolfi, Posta Italiana in Estremo Oriente, Storie di Posta di Soldati Italiani in Cina, Siberia e Giappone (Durante il Regno d’Italia), (Italian Postal Service in the Far East, Postal Stories of Italian Soldiers in China, Siberia and Japan during the Kingdom of Italy), perfect bound, 432 pages (11¾ by 8¼ inches), replete with mostly color illustrations, in Italian, rarity scale, Rimini 2022, Published by AICPM, €60 plus postage. Available from the Italian Association of Military Mail Collectors (AICPM) (email: info@aicpm.net)

This precious and long-awaited monograph has finally reached my desk. Although some interesting articles were written in the past by scholars such as Aldo Cecchi, Ennio Giunchi, G.B. Trovero, Antonio Pasquini and Bruno CrevatoSelvaggi, no one had attempted to study in great detail – and at 360 degrees – this complex aspect of Italian postal history.

In his preface to this volume AICPM President Piero Macrelli points out that this prolific and authoritative writer has always been interested in the human and postal aspects of Italians abroad. “Thanks to Valter, we now can benefit from the vast amount of his research, information, and photographs regarding Italians in the Far East, as a result we have a solid base most useful to both collectors and scholars,” wrote Macrelli.

The introduction explains that the book unfolds in seven crucial areas:

1) The years from 1861 (Unification of Italy) to 1899: the early institunional contacts with China by way of dispatching the Royal Ship Magenta in 1866, up to the issue of the San Mun Bay.

2) The years from 1900 to 1905, the Boxer Rebellion (1900), resulting in the dispatching of an Expeditionary Force, as well as the creation in China of an Italian Royal Navy Detachment and the eastern China establishment of an Italian Territorial Concession at Tientsin.

3) The years from 1906 to 1914 preceding the World War I, including the 1907 automobile race from Peking to Paris, and the urban development of the Italian Territorial Concession of Tientsin.

4) The years from 1915 to 1919: the First World War and the story of the illomened ‘Irredenti’ who arrived at Tientsin from the Russian POWs camps, and the dispatching of an Italian Expeditionary Force in the Far East in 1918-19.

5) The 1920s: from the formation of a Batallion of Seamen of the San Marco Regi-

ment to the establishment on site of river cruise companies up to the Air Raids from Italy to Japan.

6) The 1930s: from the attempts of commercial penetration of China (through special missions of the fascist regime) up to the deployment of the “Savoy Grenadiers Batallion” to the days of the China-Japan War (1937) and the birth of Manchukuo.

7) The 1940s: from Italy’s entry in the World War II up to the 1943 Armistice and the conclusion of the War, resulting in the surrendering of the Tientsin Concession as a result of the 1947 Paris Peace Treaty.

This is clearly in a nutshell, but each of the seven sections is subdivided in specific chapters that further delve into very detailed treatment of the subject matter. An introduction to the origins and development of the postal service of China and Japan is provided.

This important book ends with a three-page bibliography and an index. It is lavishly produced and interested readers should secure a copy before the “sold out” sign is used.

— Giorgio Migliavacca

Luigi Ruggero Cataldi,  Roma Postale, Gli Uffici Postali della Capitale d’Italia, In Italian [Rome’s Posts: the Post Offices of the Capital of Italy], 913 pages (20.5 cm by 29.5 cm), hardbound, color dust jacket, color illustrations throughout, € 90 plus postage (contact author), weight kg 4.5 (about 10 pounds), Rome 2018. Available from: luigiruggerocataldi@gmail.com

The author of this encyclopedic book has spent most of his life inside the administrative machinery of the Italian postal administration that, in 1994, took him to the very top as chief executive director of the Verona province postal region. The breadth and compass of this volume is truly intimidating and the vastity of information gathered over a number of decades is unbelievable. In 2019 this book was presented with the Renato Russo Award as best postal history book of the year.

After the unification of Italy, the new Kingdom founded in 1861 went through a series of reforms and administrative measures that impacted the entire citizenry, and with it the workings of the General Administration of the Italian Posts.

The Capture of Rome (Presa di Roma) on Sept. 20, 1870, was the final event of the unification of Italy (Risorgimento), marking both the final defeat of the Papal

States under Pope Pius IX and the unification of the Italian Peninsula (except San Marino) under the Kingdom of Italy. In 1871, Rome became the capital of the Kingdom of Italy and, in 1946, that of the Italian Republic. It should not surprise the reader that one of the top priorities was to establish a parcel post department, which was officially activated in October 1881. The urgency of this postal service development was motivated by the ever-growing popularity of the parcel post service which impacted the commercial aspects positively, not to speak of the flourishing demand on the part of the general public.

By 1883, the parcel post service was available at post offices throughout the country. Meanwhile, the Ministry was having logistics headaches regarding the storage of mountains of parcels and packets.

During the same year, the General Post Office in Rome saw the activation of of 508 Post Office Boxes. By 1887 it became necessary to divide Rome into “postal zones” – each being served by a squadron of postmen. The functionality of this innovation was tested in Rome in February 1890. The test failed due to the obdurate attitude of the public, which consistently did not include the correct postal zone in the address.

One of the mesmerizing aspects of this volume is the display of the various postmarks used by a multitude of branches, including those of the Roman pneumatic posts in central Rome. It is evident that the author had unrestricted access to the archives of the Ministry of the Posts and Telegraphs, including a very rich photographic archive, which helped to illustrate the volume in a most adequate manner.

At the turn of the century, Rome was not yet what we would call “metropolis.” However, in 1907, after some hesitations the Ministry decided that it was imperative to have a fleet of vehicles, including vans and buses. For its part, the car industry was able to respond to the needs of the postal network. The southern regions were the major beneficiaries of the postal transportation services.

In August 1918 Rome finally was served by FIAT vehicles. Parcels were delivered separately using two contracted companies that used horse-drawn vans. The use of vehicles, vans and trucks was rather heavy in the urban areas. The emptying of mail boxes was also very important, as it required regular attention by vans and vehicles on duty, each mandated to empty from 25 to 35 mail boxes.

Chapter 3 deals with mail with a hotel return address. Some hotels had a postal counter where the guests could buy stamps, hand over ordinary mail, registered mail, telegrams and money orders.

Chapter 4 examines the postal and telegraph agencies serving a large variety of organisations: airports, national radio news agency Stefani (E.I.A.R.), American Express, banks, Capitol building, airport, Hunters Club, Olympic Games, Fascist organizations, electricity corp., insurance companies, Italcable, Chess Club, Court of Justice, POWs Postal Agency (June1942) and Equity Organization for authors and publishers.

May-June 2024

www.collectorsclub.org

Chapter 5 peruses telegraphic and post offices for institutions, such as Deputees Chamber, Carabinieri Police, Fascist Federation, Royal Household, Senate and more. All the previously mentioned chapters give information about postmarks and meter marks, agencies and branches, as well as illustrations of all known postmarks and meter marks. This is also true of the lengthy Chaper 6, which extends over 75 pages, dealing with postal and telegraphic offices serving the various ministries.

Chapter 7 is next, with 66 pages covering the FIL-ITALIA, Volume XLIX, No. 3 Autumn 2023, 147 postal and telegraphic offices of the Eternal City serving the compartmental and head offices of ministerial branches.

Chapter 8, with its 318 pages, lists more of the various postal branches and agencies of the endless suburbs, townships and outskirts – a veritable tour de force. Chapter 9 takes some 232 pages to provide all the information about the mushrooming branches and subsidiary offices. Express (special) delivery, known as “Postacelere,” is thoroughly examined in lists of all known in Chapter 10, while Chapter 11 lists all changes of names of about 180 offices. The volume ends with a much-welcomed index and seven pages of bibliography. This is a true labor of love and it shows in each of its 913 pages.

The author has been rewarded with several accolades including a gold medal at Italia 2018 in Verona and the highly coveted Renato Russo Award 2019, presented to Cataldi by the Guild of the Italian Philatelic Press (USFI) in September 2019 for the best book of philatelic literatures of that year.

— Giorgio Migliavacca

Did you know... ...that there are many CC meeting presentations available to members on our website?

www.collectorsclub.org

You don’t have to live in Manhattan to be an active, involved and happy member of the Collectors Club.

This is just one of the many, many member resources available to you!

The Collectors Club

Membership Update: Feb. 22 through April 5, 2024

Approved by the Board of Governors:

Feb. 27, 2024

Non-Resident:

Farley, Wayne St. Clairsville, Ohio

Klaiber, David Chicago, Ill.

Non Resident:

March 26, 2024

Faux, Robert Tripoli, Iowa

Renert, Liran Max Palo Alto, Calif.

Non-Resident:

Pending Applications

Brandon, Keith Michael Kirkbymoorside, North Yorkshire, U.K.

We regret to inform you of recent deaths of the following longtime Collectors Club members:

Dixon, Michael Portland, Ore.

Hisey, Robert Sarasota, Fla.

Klein, Allen Los Angeles, Calif.

Neil, Randy Kansas City, Mo.

Preston, Dickson Seattle, Wash.

If you would like to update your contact information, please contact our Executive Secretary Andrea Matura at: info@collectorsclub.org.

We look forward to seeing you in person at the upcoming May Gala Reopening and Awards celebrations, June Napex (Washington, D.C., area) event and at Chicagopex later in November. Our ongoing 2024 remote Zoom meeting program is in progress. We eagerly anticipate a gala reintroduction of in person activities at the Clubhouse throughout May and June of 2024!

Respectfully submitted,

Mark E. Banchik, Membership Chair

• Egypt: Part X of the Joe Chalhoub Collection

• The “Art of Sperati”

• Great Britain and British Empire including British West Indies and Ireland

• France and Colonies

• Indian States

• Europe, Overseas and All World Collections including Romania and Persia

• Olympic Games

Index to Advertisers

Please Remember ...

Those who advertise in the Collectors Club Philatelist are supporting both our organization and the hobby in general.

If you purchase stamps or covers from these fine companies, please let them know you saw their ad in the CCP.

SCHUYLER J. RUMSEY AUCTIONS IS PROUD TO ANNOUNCE THE SALE OF:

THE “MISHKA” COLLECTION OF CLASSIC MEXICO

The “Mishka” Collection of Mexico features the 1864-66 Eagle Issue with a stunning array of covers and stamps. Many items are unique and have not been on the market in several decades. This important collection will be offer in the Fall of 2024. Visit our website for coming information regarding this exciting auction.

415 781 5127

srumsey@rumseyauctions.com visit us at www.rumseyauctions.com